1. Bob Mulcahy might as well have taken a wrecking ball to the RAC, because Rutgers’ exiled athletic director left its primary tenants in a smoldering scrap heap. Whether you agreed or disagreed with giving Fred Hill a two-year extension after two 10-win seasons, the fact that the entire sum was guaranteed is “absolutely negligent,” to quote a high-ranking administrator at another school. Uncle Bob also spent like a drunken sailor on the latest contract for C. Vivian Stringer, an accomplished coach but one whose program hemorrhages money and is starting to show some cracks of its own as illustrated in this report from NJ.com[1]. Tim Pernetti is going to need Houdini’s help to wiggle out of the financial straightjacket bequeathed by his predecessor.

2. Don’t believe the spin coming from Seton Hall’s administrators about Joe Quinlan. It’s true that the athletic director hasn’t been ordered to clean out his desk, but the writing is all over the wall and you don’t need Sherlock Holmes to connect the dots. Here’s when they’ll finally confirm reality: After the dust settles and everyone departs for the summer, a terse statement will be released at about 4:45 on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.

3. There’s not much to say about Rutgers’ 23-point shellacking at Marquette except this: Each successive non-competitive loss does more long-term damage to the program. It makes it the job less attractive to coaching candidates, makes it less likely that key players will return next year, makes it harder to raise money to refurbish the RAC. If Rutgers goes 0-fer the Big East, the fallout in terms of negative recruiting and everything else could bury the program for five years, maybe more.

And he draws the foul: In light of Kentucky’s loss and Kansas’ upcoming challenge against rival K-State, Villanova stands a real chance of obtaining the No. 1 ranking next week. That would provide quite the opportunity for Seton Hall, which matches up pretty well with the Wildcats, to make the kind of splash that could reverberate until March. Stay tuned.

HIGH SCHOOL EDITION:

1. In case anybody needed reminding, the gap between New Jersey’s best parochial team and best public-school team is a mile wide. That’s the message from St. Pat’s 74-52 drubbing of Plainfield Tuesday night at Union H.S. Plainfield had the chips fall their way—Tyrone Johnson was a full go after recovering from his toe injury, the capacity crowd was nearly 100 percent behind the Cardinals, and Kyrie Irving sat out the first five minutes due to bruised ribs—yet still fell behind 23-4 and never got the deficit closer than 16. Read the game story here[2]. The Cardinals looked unnerved in the first half. They’ll have to overcome that to have any shot if these clubs meet again in the Union County Tournament final.

Notes from the scene: There were plenty of luminaries on hand—former Seton Hall center Grant Billemeier is an assistant coach at St. Pat’s and must have shed 50 pounds from his playing days, Tom Konchalski dropped in and so did Seton Hall assistant Scott Adubato. But maybe the weirdest sight was seeing Jayson Williams—he of the ankle bracelet—entering the Plainfield locker room after the game and offering the Cards some words of encouragement. Apparently he has connections with Plainfield rec folks and they ushered him in.

Also have to tip the cap to PA announcer Rich Biddulph, who was calling out the assists (don’t hear that very often on the high school level) while donning a dapper corduroy blazer.

2. Hats off to Somerville, which knocked off Gill St. Bernard’s Tuesday and really upset the apple cart on the eve of the Somerset County Tourney’s seeding meeting. The Pioneers drove home the point: This is the most wide-open SCT in many years, maybe ever. And Joe D’Alessandro’s club reminds us of axiom No. 1 in basketball: If you play good defense, you always have a chance.

As for Gill, hiccups happen when you are sophomore-driven, but the Knights have to take a hit in the seedings. In other words, they can’t be No. 1 any longer. But where do they fit in? It should make for some fascinating banter at tonight’s meeting. We’re looking forward to it (and the pizza) and we’ll post the result as soon as it’s rendered.

3. So, then, here is Hoops Haven’s revised “ballot” for the SCT seeds, updated to reflect Tuesday’s results. I agonized over this for nearly 90 minutes—it’s the toughest ballot in my 13 years on the beat. There’s been quite a bit of movement from yesterday, which shows you how volatile this is:

1. Ridge (11-3): Took care of business with a 48-38 win over Warren Hills. Reward their consistency.

2. Hillsborough (12-2): Coming off a narrow 59-56 win over Watchung Hills, but they have beaten both Ridge and Montgomery.

3. Montgomery (13-2): Lock them in here. A 57-38 rout of Franklin was a statement.

4. Gill St. Bernard’s (9-2): Somerville loss is gonna cost them, and this could be generous. Some coaches are going to seed them as low as No. 6, and they have a case. In our view the body of work, which includes wins over Immaculata, Irvington and Union, keep them from sliding further.

5. Immaculata (9-5): With four losses (we won’t penalize them for playing St. Anthony) and Tuesday’s 47-41 squeaker over Bridgewater, it’s temping to drop them back behind Somerville and Rutgers Prep. Like those schools, they have one signature win (Hillsborough). Their second-best win (Piscataway), last week’s close loss to Montgomery and the program’s status as the defending champ could break the tie. It’s awfully close.

6. Somerville (11-2): The Pioneers can make a case for No. 4 after stunning Gill. We won’t quibble if they get it. But taking the whole body of work into account, their resume is not quite as strong as the schools ahead of them.

7. Rutgers Prep (10-4): After Somerville’s win over Gill, you can make a case for them to go as high as No. 4. They’ve played a tough schedule, but aside from Somerville they don’t have a hang-your-hat win. Tough call.